Maryland lawmakers and Governor O'Malley's adminstration have come to an agreement on the wording of a DNA collection law.

The original language, supported by Governor O'Malley, allowed police to take DNA samples from people arrested for violent crimes or burgalary.  Members of Maryland's legislature disagreed with the regulation, and contended that DNA should only be collected from those who had been formally charged with a crime.  The two sides were able to reconcile their differences during a legislative session. (more…)

The Baltimore Sun published an article concerning a Baltimore judge who has ordered the city police to search for DNA evidence from a 1975 rape case or face a fine.

In January, Circuit Judge Wanda K. Heard ordered the Baltimore police department to search storage facilities for any DNA evidence remaining from John Williams Simms' 1977 trial. Judge Heard gave the prosecutor and police 90 days to submit a written report detailing their efforts. To date, no report has been filed. (more…)

The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project recently published its 2007 annual newsletter.  The newsletter provides updates on our most significant activities of the past year.  To read it, click here.

On October 17, 2007, MAIP's Executive Director made a presentation to Virginia's Forensic Science Board, asking the Board to endorse a change to Virginia's post-conviction DNA testing statute that would allow prisoners to obtain types of DNA testing not performed by the state lab.  Specifically, MAIP urges the adoption of Y-STR testing, a form of DNA testing that can get results with smaller amounts of genetic material, and with material that was once believed to be too degraded even to test.  It is also useful for obtaining results where a small amount of male DNA might otherwise be masked by a large amount of female DNA in a sample.  The change would have an enormous impact on many of MAIP's prospective clients.  It is particularly crucial now, as Virginia undergoes the DNA re-testing program ordered by Governor Warner. 

Ms. Armbrust's presentation was covered by the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Free Lance-Star.  To read their articles, click here and here.   To read about Virginia's re-testing program, click here. 

Two major publications today featured stories on innocence issues. 

The New York Times ran a first-page article about the ways in which states are re-thinking their criminal justice procedures based on lessons learned from the nation's first 200 DNA exonerations.  The article highlights Maryland's recent laws on crime lab oversight and eyewitness identification procedures.  The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project's Executive Director, Shawn Armbrust, testified before the Maryland legislature on both of these bills.  To read the New York Times article, click here. 

The Washington Post today ran an editorial discussing the problem of false confessions.  The author, Shankar Vedantam, described a fascinating study in which non-criminal individuals were led, through mere suggestion, to admit to acts that they had not performed.  The article notes that approximately 25 percent of DNA exonerations have involved false confessions.  To read the Washington Post editorial, click here. 

The Governor of North Carolina recently signed into law three bills that aim to prevent wrongful convictions.  The laws implement procedures that MAIP has long advocated, including a requirement that in-person lineups and photo arrays be conducted by a neutral administrator who does not know which participant is the suspect.  The bills also require the recording of custodial interrogations in homicide cases and the preservation of evidentiary material that could contain DNA.  You can access these new laws by clicking on the links below.   

HB 1625 (eyewitness ID): *Signed 8/23/07
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2007/Bills/House/PDF/H1625v5.pdf

HB 1626 (recording of interrogations): *Signed 8/23/07
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2007/Bills/House/PDF/H1626v5.pdf

HB 1500 (DNA access/preservation of evidence): *Signed 8/31/07

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2007/Bills/House/PDF/H1500v5.pdf

On Wednesday, Maryland exoneree Kirk Bloodsworth testified before the Maryland legislature in favor of the abolition of the death penalty in Maryland.  Mr. Bloodsworth was convicted and sentenced to death for a rape and murder that he did not commit.  He spent nearly nine years on Maryland's death row before a DNA test proved that he could not have been the killer.  The DNA test also implicated the true killer, who subsequently plead guilty.  Mr. Bloodsworth, who serves on our Honorary Board, now speaks extensively on innocence issues and the death penalty.  To learn more about his wrongful conviction and how it happened, please see the "Case Profiles" section of our website.  To read Marc Fisher's Washington Post column on Mr. Bloodsworth and his testimony, click here. 

On December 7, 2006, Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich signed an executive order establishing the Maryland Forensic Sciences Advisory Board.  According to Governor Ehrlich, "the Board's primary goal is to ensure that forensic sciences are conducted in Maryland under the highest quality control procedures using the most modern equipment and technology."  The Board is also charged with addressing "the major challenges facing our crime labs today, including financing equipment upgrades, professional training, national accreditation and employee retention." 

The Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project is disappointed in Governor Ehrlich's response to the crime lab problem in Maryland.  Maryland is still not in compliance with a federal law enacted in 2004, which requires independent crime lab oversight in order to make a state eligible for specific types of federal funding for crime labs.  Currently, Maryland's forensic labs operate without any mandatory standards for the scientific validity of their procedures, the quality of technician training or performance, or the quality of the equipment used for forensic analysis.  They oeprate without any licensing or inspection of the lab or lab work product, including DNA testing, blood testing, and gunshot residue testing — all evidence used to identify and convict violent ofenders.  Governor Ehrlich's executive order does not bring Maryland into compliance with federal law or mandate any quality assurance.  It also does not increase funding, which is desperately needed for recruitment, training, employee retention, and adequate facilities and equipment.     

On December 12, the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project issued a joint press release with the Maryland Office of the Public Defender and the Maryland branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, criticizing Governor Ehrlich's approach as simply authorizing more study of the problems inherent in Maryland's crime labs without doing anything to fix them.  "Despite repeated calls for standards and independent enforcement, despite wrongful convictions based in part upon problematic crime lab evidence, and despite prosecutions jeopardized by poor forensics, Maryland has failed to address the real issues," said Cindy Boersma, Legislative Director for the ACLU of Maryland.  Added MAIP's Shawn Armbrust, "Governor Ehrlich has created a task force charged with reviewing the work of a task force." 

Crime labs that lack funding, oversight, and standards are more likely to produce erroneous evidence that is used to prosecute and convict the wrong people, allowing the guilty to remain in the community and pose a public danger while subjecting innocent people to the possibility of convictions for crimes they did not commit.  We at MAIP find it outrageous that Maryland is not even in compliance with federal standards regulating crime lab oversight.  We urge incoming Governor Martin O'Malley to reduce the risk of unreliable criminal convictions and boost needed federal funding for Maryland's crime labs by embracing a plan that actually reforms the system, rather than continuing to study it. 

As of December 14, 2006, the full text of the Executive Order has not yet been posted on the Governor's web site, but it should eventually be available by clicking here.